Simon Joss

Eco-cities: the mainstreaming of urban sustainability; key characteristics and driving factors

Efforts to innovate in urban sustainability have in recent decades culminated in a new phenomenon: eco-cities. In recognition of the key role played by cites both as the cause of, and potential solution to, global climate change and rapid urbanisation, the concept and practice of eco-cities have since the early 2000s gained global significance and become increasingly mainstream in policy-making. This study provides an analysis of contemporary eco-city developments by systematically mapping some 79 recent initiatives at global level; evaluating key characteristics (including development type, phase and implementation mode) and discussing the factors (such as technological development, cultural branding, and political leadership) that drive and condition innovation in this area. The article concludes by outlining a research agenda for addressing both the challenges and opportunities of future eco-city governance.

The Eco-City as Urban Technology: Perspectives on Caofeidian International Eco-City (China)

Caofeidian International Eco-City, in North-East China, is among several large-scale new eco-city initiatives currently in development across Asia. Built from scratch across an area of 74 km2, with an expected population of 800,000 by 2020, the citys plan boasts an abundance of urban sustainability features, from integrated public transport services and advanced water and waste recycling systems, to public parks and an extensive wetland area. This article uses the historical and conceptual perspective of “techno-city” to analyze the citys urban technology features. It highlights the relationship between the city and its hinterland, discusses the focus on science and technology driving the citys concept, and explores the international, modernist design language used. In doing so, the analysis points to several key tensions and contradictions at work, including a disconnect between the citys green technology focus and the high-carbon heavy industry of the surrounding area, and a lack of engagement with the local culture and community. Caofeidian Eco-City exhibits several features of twentieth-century techno-cities, although these are re-cast within the twenty-first-century context of global climate change policy and Chinas ongoing rapid urbanization processes.

Eco-cities: a global survey 2009

In the last couple of decades, efforts to render cities environmentally and socially sustainable have culminated in a new phenomenon – the so-called eco-city. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the term ‘eco-city’ remained mainly a concept, a collection of ideas and propositions about sustainable urban planning, transportation, housing, public participation and social justice, with practical examples relatively few and far between. Since the mid 2000s, the phenomenon appears to have become increasingly global and mainstream, against the background of the international recognition of the scale and severity of climate change and rapid urbanisation, particularly in the developing world. To date, there have been few systematic surveys of eco-cities. This paper presents the findings of a global survey carried out in 2009. The study maps, analyses and compares some 79 identified eco-city initiatives, and addresses questions, such as what are key features that distinguish eco-cities from ‘normal’ cities; how to define them; why they have become international and mainstream in a short period of time; and what kind of issues their implementation in different contexts raise. The paper concludes by outlining a prospective research agenda aimed at critically discussing eco-cities’ capacity for innovating for environmental and social sustainability and related governance processes and challenges.

Public participation in science and technology policy- and decision-making — ephemeral phenomenon or lasting change?

Public participation has become something of a phenomenon in science and technology public policy- and decision-making. The issue is at present characterised by a rich conceptual, methodological and practical diversity, the expansion into new thematic, institutional and socio-cultural areas, and an increasing recognition amongst relevant public institutions. Far from being static and saturated, it is driven by continuing development. This special issue was put together with a view to offering an introduction into, and a broad overview of, both different theoretical and practical perspectives on public participation. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Towards the ‘ubiquitous eco-city’: An analysis of the internationalisation of eco-city policy and practice

The global mainstreaming of urban sustainability policy, since the early 2000s, points to a new phenomenon: the ‘ubiquitous eco-city’. Its key features – based on the analysis of a census of 178 initiatives – include: the significant, global proliferation of eco-city initiatives; increased international knowledge transfer activities involving both public and private actors; the centrality of ‘carbon discourse’ guiding concepts, policy and practice; the marrying of ‘green’ with ‘smart’ technological systems; and a focus on achieving environmental innovation through economic growth. Among the implications is the need to moderate the ‘ubiquitous eco-city’ paradigm with strong local contextualisation and social sustainability measures.

Considering the concept of procedural justice for public policy- and decision-making in science and technology

The concept of procedural justice could act as a rich and useful source of theoretical inspiration and practical experience in science and technology public policy- and decision-making. Its understanding of the functional relationship between policy and decision processes, their social environments and their outcomes, its interest in the fairness aspect of procedures and its wide range of applications could add a refreshing new perspective on traditional ways of thinking in a field which has long been dominated by ‘technocratic’ discourse. It must take into account that scientific and technological issues are varied and complex, and its application would require the careful, contextual consideration of the scientific-technological issues at stake. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Toward the Public Sphere—Reflections on the Development of Participatory Technology Assessment

With the development and increasing use of diverse public involvement methods over the past decade, formal technology assessment has shifted from a largely closed, intrainstitutional tool of policy analysis and advice to a tool for the social assessment of scientific-technological issues at the interface between politics and public discourse. Through citizens’ conferences, scenario workshops, and consensus conferences, technology assessment has effectively been opened up to the public sphere: Citizens and interest group representatives are drawn into the process of assessing scientific and technological issues alongside experts, the process often takes place in public, and its outcomes are made widely available for information and debate. This article analyzes the public involvement agenda in technology assessment from the conceptual perspective of the “public sphere.” It discusses key features of public sphere–oriented technology assessment, including public access, actor involvement, and deliberation. And it considers the implications of the public sphere dimension for future developments in participatory technology assessment.

Eco-City Governance: A Case Study of Treasure Island and Sonoma Mountain Village

In recent years, there have been several dozen major ‘eco-city’ initiatives underway worldwide, primarily in response to global climate change and growing urbanization. Among these, two have been in the making since the early 2000s in California, USA, from where the eco-city movement originated over 20 years ago: Treasure Island, in San Francisco, and Sonoma Mountain Village, in Rohnert Park (Sonoma County). This article analyses these urban sustainability initiatives in terms of the emerging hybrid governance relations and interactions and how these inform the planning, co-ordination and implementation of the initiatives. Among the key governance aspects discussed are the partial privatization through elaborate public–private arrangements, the role of international partners in shaping the urban sustainability agenda and the project-based approach used to effect the initiatives. The findings suggest a prevailing mode of ‘governance at a distance’ and related innovation in governance mechanisms, which, in turn, impacts on how urban sustainability is conceptualized and put into practice.

The New Urban Agenda: key opportunities and challenges for policy and practice

The UN-HABITAT III conference held in Quito in late 2016 enshrined the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) with an exclusively urban focus. SDG 11, as it became known, aims to make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through a range of metrics, indicators, and evaluation systems. It also became part of a post-Quito ‘New Urban Agenda’ that is still taking shape. This paper raises questions around the potential for reductionism in this new agenda, and argues for the reflexive need to be aware of the types of urban space that are potentially sidelined by the new trends in global urban policy.

Eco-city indicators: governance challenges

According to the most recent (2011) global census of eco-city initiatives, there are currently 178 eco-city initiatives under development, representing a significant mainstreaming of urban sustainability in the last decade. As the number of eco-city initiatives grows, so the question of how to define eco-city indicators and establish standards becomes more pressing. While there are many sustainability standards and certification schemes available for use at building level (e.g. LEED, BREEAM), similar sustainability assessment and endorsement frameworks for the urban level have only recently begun to emerge. This article surveys the current situation by: (i) proposing a conceptual model of urban sustainability indicators from a governance perspective; (ii) presenting the findings of a comparative analysis of the use of urban sustainability indicators in nine eco-city initiatives; and (iii) outlining key challenges for the future development of international urban sustainability standards. It argues that the current situation is marked by a considerable diversity of practice and governance functions, and an ongoing tension between place-specificity and universal applicability as goals of urban sustainability.